HONG KONG - US Open champion and No.2 seed Naomi Osaka was among a trio of withdrawals from next week's Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, citing a back injury which she suffered at the start of a semifinal run at the China Open in Beijing.
"I am really disappointed not to be able to compete at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open this year," Osaka said. "Unfortunately, I have been playing through pain in my back this whole week and the doctors have advised me that I need to rest to ensure the injury is not further aggravated and become more serious."
In addition, former Top 10 player Ekaterina Makarova and No.5 seed Lesia Tsurenko also withdrew from the International-level event due to a change in schedule and lower back injury, respectively.
All three players were replaced in the main draw by lucky losers Julia Glushko of Israel, Caroline Dolehide of the United States and Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
"While we were looking forward to seeing Naomi compete this year, she needs to put her health first and we are very pleased she will still be attending the event, despite her injury, and giving local fans the chance to meet her in person," said tournament director and CEO of the Hong Kong Tennis Association Chris Lai.
"At only 20 years old, we look forward to seeing her play in Hong Kong for many years to come. The depth of the draw for this year’s tournament is fantastic, and tennis fans will be spoilt for choice with World No.5 Elina Svitolina, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza and China’s top two players Wang Qiang and Zhang Shuai leading the field."
World No.5 Svitolina is the top seed at the International-level event, while Grand Slam champions Muguruza and Ostapenko are the second and third seeds, respectively.
